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Anna Arutshyan

Anna is a woman human rights defender, woman activist advocating for gender equality and long lasting peace. She has Master's Degree in Social Science and Area Studies by education, later requalified as an expert on human rights, feminism and peace building. In 2001 she founded a civil society organisation ''Society Without Violence'' (SWV) working on women's rights in Yerevan, Armenia which is one of the leading organisations in the women's rights field in Caucasus region today. She was the initiator of formation of coalition ''To Stop Violence Against Women'', Armenia, promoted the establishment of “Women In Black”, worldwide known women peace builders' movement to Armenia and further expansion to South Caucasus region, author of Rapid Response Unit (RRU) concept on effective reaction and prevention of domestic violence in Armenia.

In the course of 15 years, she has worked with well-known global women's funds and organisations, like Kvinna Till Kvinna (KTK), Global Fund for Women, MamaCash, UN Trust Fund, Black Sea Trust (BST). She is the editor-in-chief and/or author of numerous publications like ''Keep me away from your stereotypes'' survey on gender-based stereotypes, ''Integration of Gender component into national curriculum of high schools'' recommendation package, ''Armenian and Turkish Women for Peace and Reconciliation'' art project, civil society monitoring report on UNSCR1325 and others.

Currently, she is the co-founder of ''Women's Solidarity Fund'' (WSF), which is aimed to build upon the work of other women's funds focusing on Caucasus region and Turkey. Also, she is working towards her academic career in gender and sexuality at Oxford University, UK.